


Human Legacy (I Want a Moment to Be Real)

by Gothams_Only_Wolf



Series: Songs of Yesteryear [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Can I call this ship WinterWind?, M/M, Sam is a BAMF, Sam is a Saint, WinterFalcon - Freeform, avengers puppy pile
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 11:49:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2227935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gothams_Only_Wolf/pseuds/Gothams_Only_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam finds happiness in the strangest place. </p><p>Contains CA:tWS spoilers so no reading if you haven't! Shoo, watch the movie and then come back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Human Legacy (I Want a Moment to Be Real)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DeathTrapDaisy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathTrapDaisy/gifts).



> A gift for a lovely person who has kept me in the loop when it comes to Avengers fandom. Daisy keeps the Marvel love alive and well. :) 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> EDIT (9-14-16): So the amazing dubedihudde here on AO3 translated this into Russian! 
> 
> Here is the link~ https://ficbook.net/readfic/4671579

* * *

Sam never expected to see the Winter Soldier in his apartment—after he'd agreed to help Steve find him. He also didn't expect for the man to be passed the fuck out on his crappy couch with Sam's favorite (make that his _only_ ) pillow wrapped in a pair of arms; one flesh-and-blood and the other gleaming metal. An impressive glacier gaze pinned him in place as Sam slowly edged around the couch. 

"Just gonna put on some coffee. You like coffee?" Sam hums lightly, his tone practically conversational. 

The gaze shifts down and a wary as hell voice answers him, "Yeah. Black with... chocolate?" The Winter Soldier frowns at the last part but Sam shrugs. 

"I put cinnamon in mine." he offers as he slowly turns his back to the man Steve had called Bucky. "You wanna try some of that too?" 

"... Yes." Sam makes an agreeing noise as he pours the water into the coffee maker and scoops out three spoonfuls of coffee, not even freezing when the Winter Soldier watches him make it. "You aren't scared of me." 

"Almost pissed myself one too many times. Fresh out of fear." he retorts as he pulls down the bread from his pantry and starts making a sandwich. "You're, uh, welcome to it." Sam takes a bite of his Nutella and marshmellow spread sandwich and gestures with it in his hand. He keeps the butterknife on the cutting board as to not threaten the Winter Soldier. 

"I tried to kill you." the admission is stark and raspy. 

"Yeah." Sam replies after swallowing his second bite of food. "And?" 

"... Sorry." He actually blinks at that and turns to fully face the man. 

"Whatever it is, I totally didn't poison the coffee." Sam blurts out. The Winter Soldier (cause no way was Sam calling the guy Bucky to see what that'd get him) cocks his head to the side as he plucks a cup from out of Sam's cabinet and pours himself some coffee. 

He also pours one for Sam, adding cream until Sam's coffee is the exact shade he likes it doctored. Then he reaches up and taps a small, perfect amount of cinnamon onto both his and Sam's coffee and Sam's even more confused now than he was before he entered his own apartment. 

The metal hand breaks the tiny chocolate stash Sam keeps for bad days and plops one of the squares into what seems to be the Winter Soldier's cup; it's the same one Steve used when they had breakfast. 

"I know you didn't. You aren't afraid of me but you're uncomfortable." comes the laconic response. 

"Well, for starters, I don't know what the hell to call you. Been using Winter Soldier and yeah, there's capitals in front of those." he quips back with the same sense that he had when he snarked back at Steve for saying 'On your left!' 

"Oh." The thick brows furrow but straighten after a moment. "I like Bucky." 

"... Is that cause Cap said it? Or is it actually your name?" Sam wishes desperately that his sass didn't come out of his mouth at the worst possible moment. Bucky cracks up laughing, the sound rusty but genuine. 

"It's my name. Always has been since I could insist on it." It seemed like Bucky was actually a little more put together than most people believed. "That much I know." And that's what Sam got for assuming things. 

"So... Why me?" He's gotta know, preferably before the knife that Bucky's probably got on his person makes its way into Sam. 

"No one who flies like _that_... can be bad." For the second time in an hour Sam is silenced, this time by the awe.

* * *

Bucky shows up at random times and never when Sam expects him. This goes on for nearly a year before Bucky stumbles into the shitty hotel Steve and Sam are staying in with blood dripping at every step. Sam follows the trail and inhales sharply when he spots Bucky in the tub, the latter heaving in breaths that sound more like blood than air is getting into them. 

"Hey." Weak azure eyes track his every move, barely moving as Sam hauls his entire para-rescue kit into the bathroom without saying a word to an astonished Steve. "Okay, Bucky, I need to you to nod if you've got a punctured lung." 

Bucky shakes his head no but whispers, "Busted ribs." 

"That's good. Hurts a hell of a lot more but that's good. You blow up that HYDRA base before we got there?" Bucky nods and shakily points to his leg. Sam swallows the bile that threatens to come up at the sight of a snapped tibia puncturing the skin under Bucky's knee. "You been tracking us?" Again a nod and hiss as Sam gently examines the rest of him while he's in the tub. "Okay. You're gonna hate me in a sec but we really need to set your tibia to rights. Me an' Steve and you. Can you do that?" 

"No." 

"Why?" Sam barks back, his fingers belying his harsh tone as they wipe away blood from Bucky's lips and face with a warm wet cloth. 

"Can't." 

"You don't want Steve to see you." he realizes with an epiphany. 

"Hurt him." 

"He'll forgive you. I need his strength to set it." Sam sighs finally as he splints the flesh-and-blood wrist and finishes his exam. "Unless you wanna do it in a cramped tub in the middle of bumfuck nowhere." 

Bucky laughs, spraying blood against the tile as the apparently helpless laughter bubbles up from his chest. "Like it when you curse." 

"Uh-huh. Steve, I know you heard me. Pick his heavy ass up and put him on the spare bed." He wants to pinch the bridge of his nose but he's got possible super-soldier serum laced blood on his gloves. They go into the room and Sam motions that Steve should hold Bucky's leg immobile; the loud crack almost- _ **almost**_ -silences the muffled scream of pain. 

Sam hisses in sympathy as he creates a brace with pieces of the windowsill and wraps it tightly around the left calf. He clinically rips open what remains of Bucky's dark shirt to wrap the man's ribs. Thankfully, Sam can't see anything but heavy bruising so the ribs must have already knit back together. 

"I think they healed." Steve says into the silence permeating the room. 

"Yeah. Gonna wrap 'em lightly just in case." He responds and does so under the watch of twin sets of sapphire gazes. "What?" 

"Nothing Sam." 

"... Fearless." 

"You two do whatever. I'm going to bed because we just took on yet another HYDRA cell and I'm tired." Sam announces before flopping face-first onto his pillow. He's out before either one of them can bother him. 

Sam yawns but encounters an obstacle when he tries to stretch. 

"Th' hell?" He grumbles as he pushes at the object. When it tightened fractionally around his chest, Sam realized (rather late) that he's probably got one of the super-enchanced gentlemen he traveled with wrapped around him. "St've?" 

"Sorry Sam." Steve's muffling his giggles with his hand, his eyes bright with happiness like Sam hadn't seen since meeting him. "I went out to get breakfast really early." 

"... You're telling me that I have Bucky holding me like a teddy bear?" he barely whispers his words as to not awaken the soldier behind him. 

"Yup." Steve pops his 'p' with a wide grin as Bucky huffs out a breath against the back of Sam's neck and shifts to throw a leg (his **_braced_** one at that) over Sam's waist. Now Sam knows he's not a small guy but compared to these enhanced guys he's, well, _short_. "You're stuck until he wakes up." 

"He did this back in your day." He guesses flatly as Bucky hums in contentment. 

"Right on the nail. Anyone close enough to his sleeping roll got it; Dum Dum woke him up and got a shiner for his troubles." Steve's mentions of the Howling Commandos are far and few so Sam appreciates the insight. 

"Great." The sarcasm doesn't escape the super-soldier, who laughs quietly at Sam's predicament. "Anything else I need to know?" 

"Not that I can think of at the moment." comes the honest reply. 

"Nngh. Loud." Bucky curls into Sam, burying his face inbetween Sam's shoulder blades with a childish whine. The enhanced man breathes in and his entire body tightens up. "Am I dreamin'?" 

"Nope." Sam quips dryly and Bucky lets go of him like he's a burning piece of wood. A part of him misses the encompassing warmth while another part is having the _'Oh shit, do I like this guy?!'_ existential crisis. 

"I didn't make you uncomfortable?" 

"Kinda trapped and I gotta pee but no." He shrugs as best he can with a super-soldier still wrapped around his waist. Bucky releases him and Sam relieves himself, washing his hands and sliding down the wall that isn't blood-covered to sit down. 

"Sam? Breakfast is ready." Steve calls through the door. 

"Okay." He runs a hand down his face and decides (in the shittiest motel he's ever inhabited) that if Bucky wants to cuddle again, Sam will let him. Opening the door gets a steaming mug of coffee presented to him that smells like... cinnamon. He takes the cup and inhales the scent of what he considers home, practically curling around it in the only empty chair. "Who made my coffee?" 

"Bucky did. Muttered something about not being afraid of him and that he knew how you took your coffee." Steve teased lightly as he set scrambled eggs in front of Sam. 

Sam took a bite of the eggs and sighed. Yeah, he was definitely keeping these two nutballs as friends just for their culinary skills. "Can I keep you?" 

Steve laughed as Sam practically scarfed down the food and looked up with puppy eyes that he _knew_ no one could resist. "Only if you supply that cake you made last week at your apartment." 

"It's a deal." They shook on it and laughed as Bucky watched them from a support beam while eating his own food; Sam isn't exactly sure how the former HYDRA agent managed that but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to know.

* * *

Sam's dead tired from the flight they took from bumfuck nowhere to the United States via what remained of SHIELD. He stumbles into his slightly dusty apartment with a super-soldier and an enhanced former assassin. Steve takes the chair and Bucky falls asleep on his feet. 

"That can't be comfortable." he clucks his tongue at the sight Bucky makes. 

"It isn't and I got a crick in my neck once. Better lay him out on the couch." Steve slurs carefully, his eyes halfway closed already. The man's out before he can utter another word and Sam's left with a trained assassin who's dead to the world but not for long. 

"Bucky." All that gets him is a muffled grunt. "Why me?" Sam throws up his hands in defeat and slowly wraps an arm around Bucky's waist grunting at the weight as he lifts the enhanced man up. "Okay, not the _best_ idea I've ever had." He wheezes faintly as he rolls Bucky onto his bed. Bucky grunts and then tugs Sam down wrapping around him like an octopus. "Crap." Now that he's stuck, he can feel Bucky's breathing deepen further into REM sleep. "Bucky? Can you let go?" That line results in a huff of breath and a twitch of the flesh-and-blood arm. "Well okay then." Sam settles down and somewhere between counting Bucky's breaths, he falls asleep. 

Waking up is easier than he thought it would be, especially seeing as it feels like neither he nor Bucky have moved in the entire time. 

"Buck?" 

"Nuh-uh. Nope. Unless it's the end if the world, I'm not gettin' up." Bucky protests as Sam tries to move. 

"Well I need to get up and start breakfast. Don't care what time it is; I woke up, therefore it's breakfast." Sam counters with a snort, using his elbow to pry off one arm and wriggling out like a worm. He flops onto the floor with a pained grunt after his foot catches on the sheets. "Ow." 

"You okay?" 

"Yeah. Just gotta get my breath back." Sam wheezes, rolling over to lay on his back. "I should've just let you unwind first." 

"Probably." comes the amused reply. 

"Asshole." 

"Not a compliment, you know." 

"Wasn't one," Sam laughs as he sits up and sees a sleepy Bucky facing him. "I did promise food though. That oughta help your wounded ego." 

"Hmm. Does food outweigh my pride?" 

"Probably." 

Bucky's eyes almost close as the ex-sniper laughs, "You really go for the sucker punch." 

"Would you hang around if I didn't?" he asks as he closes the bathroom door to take a shower. It's quick but wakes Sam up even more. He dresses in flannel pants and a t-shirt that has writing which says _Striker Eureka_. The time reads at a reasonable hour for breakfast so he does a quick inventory of food supplies. Thankfully, someone (probably Natasha or that archer she hung around) had re-stocked his kitchen. 

He breaks out his pancake pan and also scrambles some eggs as he turns on the waffle iron. By the time Bucky shuffles into the kitchen with clothes that obviously belong to Sam (hence the reason they look a bit stretched) and damp hair, Sam's whipped up a feast for a super-soldier and ex-sniper appetite. His own food's warm in the oven as he sets out the food for them. Bucky takes a plate and piles it high; Steve shuffles in, yawning as Bucky hands him a full plate as well. 

They eat in a relative silence that's peaceful after thier latest self-imposed mission. Sam counts the yawns that Steve and Bucky trigger from one another until he can't help the laughter that bubbles up as Bucky yawns for the eighteenth time in a row. He hides his smile behind the rim of his cup as Bucky scowls. 

"What's so funny?" 

"You guys are triggering each other's yawns and don't even realize it." he chuckles as he ducks both hands that Steve and Bucky swipe in his direction. "Like a pair of fluffy puppies." 

"Seriously?" 

"Well, more like a kitten and a puppy." Sam amuses himself with the visual of a kitten Bucky and a puppy Steve. 

"Who's the kitten?" Bucky asks and Steve snorts. "What?" 

"You are, Buck." The super-soldier says after laughing so hard that he's breathless. 

"Oh. You're weird." 

"Says the ex-sniper." he pointed out with a grin. "We're even." 

Bucky's brows furrowed as the former HYDRA agent appeared to think something over. "That's what you're calling it?" 

"Your time with you-know-what is pretty much narrowed down to a sniper and now you work with the good guys so... Yeah." Sam shrugs as he sips his coffee. "I like it uncomplicated." 

"Good policy."

* * *

He gets used to shadowy presences turning into assassins, ex-snipers and even a marksman. Eventually the sight of sleeping bodies doesn't even bother him and he knows all of their breakfast favorites. Bucky ends up curled around Sam more often than not and even though Bucky hasn't said anything Sam's quit going on dates. It's after his morning run that he spots Bucky staring at the counter, two cups of what smells like tea as opposed to Sam's usual coffee at his elbow. 

"... Can we talk?" 

"What about?" Sam chugs at least two bottles of water before he plops into the seat behind the counter that faces Bucky. He tugs a cup towards him and sips it carefully, humming at the pleasant taste of honey and chamomile. 

"I, uh, noticed you aren't datin' anymore." Bucky's gaze is lowered like Sam's never seen it. 

"Mmm. Yeah. Think I found a steady." he murmurs as he leaves his palm up and inviting. 

"I... I guess she's one lucky dame." 

"He's a bit oblivious if he thinks I stopped dating 'dames' without having reached a conclusion for myself." Sam snarks as he raises his cup for another drink. Bucky's normally cobalt gaze is wide as he takes in Sam's words. His eyes flick to Sam's hand and Bucky exhales shakily. 

"Oh." 

"Yeah. You gonna leave me hanging?" Sam winks as he wiggles his fingers in invitation. Bucky laces thier fingers together, stark metal against warm flesh and definitely as sweet as Sam figured it would be. 

It's not perfect but it's a start.

**Author's Note:**

> For my first foray back into Marvel, not bad, right? Feedback is loved!


End file.
